Fighting for peace in South LA

Lt. Michael Carodine has seen first-hand how the relationship between gangs and the cops has changed in Los Angeles over the last three decades.

Lt. Carodine was a beat cop in South LA in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s – the peak years of violent crime in Los Angeles. Growing up in South Central, Lt. Carodine was regularly mistreated by police. He saw misconduct, but knew he could fix it.

He’s just one of the people profiled by KCRW’s David Weinberg in “Peacemakers,” a series airing on Press Play next week. It also profiles Skipp Townsend, a former gang member who works with the LAPD as a first responder to violent crimes trying to prevent retaliatory killings.

Weinberg also follows Lita Herron, a 69-year-old grandmother of six, whose fear of repeated shootings in her community turned to anger and then to action. After the brutal shooting of a 13-year-old family friend, she began working to prevent the violence before it happened. Developing relationships with gang members and law enforcement, Herron created a radio show where victims and perpetrators of violence could grieve together and have a public conversation about ending the cycle of violence.

It’ll all be here soon.